Law: Blind Justice

Case of the unnamed client

How far can the principle of lawyer-client confidentiality be pushed? According to a ruling handed down in West Palm Beach, Fla., last week, in certain circumstances an attorney can even withhold his client's name. The odd case, which has stirred intense interest in legal circles, grows out of the death of Mark Baltes, a 28-year-old electrician killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1986. The driver was never caught, but the day after the accident, attorney Barry Krischer was visited by someone who would say only that he or she -- the gender has not been revealed -- may have been involved....